1Ki 9:12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.

 

We recall that Solomon made a league with Hiram, king of Tyre, concerning the building of the temple. When the project was completed, Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in Galilee as payment for supplying all the materials and labour for the building of the temple. But, when Hiram saw the cities, he was very displeased with them. He chided Solomon: “What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother?” (v.13). It was as if he was saying: “Brother, what kind of cities are these? Can't you do any better than these?" We don’t know what kind of cities Solomon gave to Hiram. Perhaps they could be cities the Israelites had conquered from the Canaanites and had remained uninhabited by them. The cities could have been burned by fire. They could be land unfit for agriculture and farming. Perhaps, Solomon had this in mind: “These were cities which were of no use to us as no one wants to live in them. Take them and build flourishing cities for yourself and your people.” Hiram came as a child opening a present and expecting something astonishing. He was disappointed; it wasn’t something he had expected. His joy turned to disappointment. I’m sure you had this same kind of experience too. The higher our expectations, the greater will be the disappointments. As human beings, we have a natural tendency to pin our hopes for happiness on fulfilled expectations. Indeed, fulfilling an expectation will make us happy. Unfulfilled expectations disappoint us. Has anyone ever let you down? Why? Is it because you expected them to do certain things in certain ways you preferred and they did not? You expected your son to come home bringing your dinner and he forgot about it. You expected a three-month bonus this year and got only one. You paid a premium at a certain restaurant expecting a great dinner but it was mediocre. Have you ever hoped for something to happen, only to have it not work out like you had expected? You planned a great outing. You thought it was exciting. You received lukewarm response. You organized a great outdoor barbecue. It rained the whole day. Let’s face it: People are not going to do what we want them to do. It’s just this simple: Everyone has his own style of doing things. So, how can we stop unfulfilled expectations that cause us misery? Very simple: Don’t have one. And, if we must have one, lower our expectations. Then, prepare for disappointments. Why attach our happiness on someone’s actions or inactions. Be like Paul: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Not everyone here is going to make us happy. Inevitably, some will let us down. And, it may not be their faults. They did not intentionally do those things to disappoint us. They just do not know us and what we want. So, the solution is to make our expectations clear. For example, I don’t like fish. And, one day I went with a group and they asked me any preference and I said anything is fine. They ordered fish head steam boat for dinner. Naturally, I was disappointed. I was expecting a great evening and great food. I wasn’t expecting that of all the food available in this world, they had to choose one that I didn’t eat. Unfulfilled expectation = disappointment. Let us communicate our desires well so that we will not be disappointed. Expect little or nothing and we will be forever happy: “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).